Support apparatuses that support user's input operations by predicting the user's operation or command to be inputted next have conventionally been suggested (for example, see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-27089 Publication and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-215278 Publication).
Such a support apparatus predicts, based on a user's operation history, an application program that is likely to be executed next, from among a plurality of previously installed application programs, and presents an operation and a command for executing the application program. Therefore, the user is able to easily execute the application program to be used next.
On the other hand, in-car apparatuses for car navigation systems that predict a destination where a user is likely to go and destination information to be presented have been suggested.
Such an in-car apparatus predicts the destination based on the user's car behavior history. The in-car apparatus further predicts an application program that provides the destination information from among a plurality of previously installed application programs, and executes the predicted application program. Therefore, the user is able to not only save time and trouble for setting the destination, but also easily know the destination information.
However, the prediction method used in the above conventional support apparatus or in-car apparatus has a problem that it is impossible to appropriately predict an application program to be used on a mobile terminal.
In more detail, although application programs to be used by a user on a mobile terminal tend to vary depending on the location where the mobile terminal exists, the above conventional support apparatus does not take such tendency into consideration as its prediction method. Thus, the conventional support apparatus is unable to predict an appropriate application program depending on the location. Furthermore, the above conventional in-car apparatus does not consider, as its prediction method, application programs which have been used by a user with his own intention, and thus is unable to appropriately predict an application program that the user would like to use.
The present invention has been conceived in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method of appropriately predicting application programs for a mobile terminal that a user is likely to use, depending on the location where the mobile terminal exists.